Posted on 01/22/2021 11:31:38 AM PST by Red Badger
The first two B-21 Raider bombers are currently under construction in Palmdale, California.
The first flight will take place in 2022.
The B-21 Raider will replace the B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit later this decade.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first two B-21 Raider bombers are currently under construction in the California desert. The Air Force’s first new bomber in more than 30 years will replace most of the service’s heavy bombers—with the exception of the immortal B-52H Stratofortress. Although the B-21 Raider has mostly stayed on schedule, the Air Force has pushed the first flight back to the middle of 2022.
Of the two B-21s under construction, the first jet is “really starting to look like a bomber,” according to Air Force magazine. The second bomber is in its early production stages.
The B-21’s first flight was initially scheduled for December 2021, but Air Force officials warned last fall that the date was likely to slip. Officials seem fairly confident the Raider will fly next year, with the plane entering service “around 2026 or 2027.”
Artist’s depiction of a B-21 at Whiteman Air Base, Missouri. U.S. AIR FORCE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The B-21 is the Air Force’s first new bomber since the 1980s. The B-1B Lancer bomber entered service in 1986, and the B-2 Spirit bomber followed in 1997. The end of the Cold War cut the number of B-2 bombers from 132 to just 20, as the lack of a nuclear-armed adversary reduced the need for bombers. The Air Force’s fleet of B-1, B-2, and B-52 bombers have proved useful in the last 30 years, racking up conventional missions against countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.
Until Biden cancels it.
Coolest plane ever?
CANCEL THE PROGRAM.
ML/NJ
WTF is the top pic?
Artist’s conception of the B-21....................................
Yea, but where does the tail gunner sit?
Don’t know what all the fuss is about... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ef/North_American_XB-21_4.jpg/300px-North_American_XB-21_4.jpg
A jet without exhausts. That is pretty cool.
The wobbly swan.
“Until Biden cancels it.”
Exactly. Why would they want such capability? The only kind of conflict they will engage in, is either putting down domestic rabble, or a meaningless war somewhere that will spill blood for no reason other than to keep the military-industrial complex going.
I was working on the upgrade for the B2 when Obama came into office and killed the program and my job.
Biden will do the same to this program.
Ditto.
There’s cool, and there’s useful.
I’m biased because my father worked on the B-1 for some 30 years. He was very biased and resentful of all the adulation given the B-2 because of “stealh” and flying-wing design, but as he would spout, the B-1 did alot more work than the B-2.
If the B-21 is smaller, as the SSN-774 was smaller than the SSN-21 (never mind priors), it is probably less capable. But they’ll continue to convince everyone it’s better.
I live little south of Minot AFB in ND. I take mt daughter fishing Saturday mornings at a lake about 30 miles due west. Every Saturday a pair of B-52s fly over on their training run and they’re probably only at about 10-15,000 feet at that point. When those 16x Pratt & Whitney engines pass over you, you can still feel it in your chest.
Ditto...
Although once the his chicom masters get all the engineering documents, they may be flying it by 2022...
There can now be fitted with autonomous systems and cylinders full of cruise missiles or other ordnance. So how many of these could be converted for the same cost?
“Raider” conjures violent images. To not offend anyone, the name should be “Petunia” or “The Dove”.
Agreed!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
